Ricardo Lau
Ricardo Lau was a former Nicaraguan National Guard intelligence officer who co-founded the FDN Contra army and served as its death squad leader and chief torturer.
Ricardo Lau was a former Nicaraguan National Guard intelligence officer who co-founded the FDN Contra army and served as its death squad leader and chief torturer. Lau's history of violence and corruption placed him at the center of the FDN's darkest activities during the Contra war.1
Founding the FDN
Lau was running the Legion of September 15 prior to Enrique Bermúdez's appointment as Contra military commander. Records seized from Salvadoran right-wing leader Roberto D'Aubuisson revealed that D'Aubuisson had gone to Guatemala three days after the assassination of Archbishop Romero and made two "contributions to Nicaraguans," one for $40,000 and one for $80,000. Written underneath these amounts was the name and telephone number of Colonel Ricardo Lau, connecting him to the financing of the assassination.2
Death Squad Leader
Several accounts painted a picture of massive corruption inside the FDN, perpetuated by Bermúdez and his closest associates: death squad leader Ricardo Lau and millionaire land baron Aristides Sánchez. The old Guardia prison where the FDN operated became Lau's domain. Meneses strolled freely through the grounds, and the guards looked respectfully at their shoes and murmured "Señor" when Meneses and his entourage passed by, illustrating the close relationship between Lau's FDN faction and the drug trafficking operation.3
Sources
- Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 5. ↩
- Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 5. ↩
- Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 6, Ch. 14. ↩
Local network
Ricardo Lau's direct connections. Click any node to navigate, drag to pan, scroll (or pinch) to zoom. + 2‑hop expands the neighborhood one level further.